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Friday, May 5, 2017

Police Department 2016 Annual Report Highlights

The Fort Thomas Police Department Annual Report for 2016 is now available. Police Chief Mike Daly shared highlights of the report at the April city council meeting. Fort Thomas was recently named the Safest City in Kentucky, and Chief Daly credited his staff and strong relationships with the Fire Service and other city departments.

Before launching into the full report, Chief Daly told a story that illustrates the heavy toll that the heroin epidemic is taking on the region. Earlier that week fire and police personnel responded to a call about an overdose of a young woman. The person calling 9-1-1 was the woman’s three-year-old daughter. The child was with her mother when she collapsed. The little girl ran to a neighbor’s house for help. The chief said the woman recovered but it was sad to see how this drug problem affects even the smallest members of our community.

The Year in Review

The report opens with a message from Daly discussing the department’s efforts to keep the public safe and to strengthen ties within the community. He thanked the 23 officers and Police Clerk Debbie Lucas for serving the citizens of Fort Thomas.

The annual report includes a comparison of citations from 2015 to 2016. While alcohol-related crimes were down from 58 in 2015 to 44 in 2016, the drug epidemic has taken its toll. There were 367 drug-related citations in 2016 compared to 285 in the prior year.

Overall, the department wrote more citations in 2016, going from 680 in 2015 to 813 in 2016.

Traffic citations increased only slightly over last year. The good news was some of the more dangerous violations were down. DUI citations went from 83 in 2015 to 49 in 2016, and speeding was down from 291 to 239.

License violations went up, reflecting the department’s emphasis on safety. From 2015 to 2016, operator license violations went from 253 to 276 and vehicle license violations jumped from 199 to 333.

Violations by juveniles were up from 59 to 70 with the biggest increase in alcohol-related incidents and in a category labeled “miscellaneous.” Despite the uptick for adults, juvenile drug-related violations saw a decline from 21 in 2015 to 14 in 2016.

The categories covered in offenses reported to the Police Department rose to 680 in 2016 from 634 in the prior year.

Training

Officers are required to attend at least 40 hours of in-service training annually. With many new officers, training took a “back to the basics” approach in 2016.

The report lists training received by all 23 individual officers as well as Chief Daly. Some training covered technical skills such as breath test operation and tactical pistol applications, while other training included criminal investigation, search and rescue, stress and wellness, leadership, legal and other issues.

The department has continued its firearms training program in 2016. In recent years, much instruction time was spent in scenario-based training. This year, training focused on improving accuracy and basic skills. The department introduced firearms “roll call training” on all three shifts, putting the emphasis on accuracy drills to reinforce skills gained in formal range training.

Equipment needs

Several of the handguns in use by the department are ten years old or older. Officers experienced problems and failures with some of the equipment. Aging weapons have been an issue for a number of years.

In preparation for new equipment, several officers participated in gun testing. They concluded that the Glock 17 was the best firearm for officers’ needs. The department is working on a budget proposal to purchase new Glock handguns in the 2017/2018 budget.

S.A.V.E. training event

S.A.V.E. stands for Swift Assisted Victim Extraction, a program that provides training and preparation for mass casualty incidents. The Fort Thomas Police Department joined with the Fire Department, officers from Dayton Police, AiG Public Safety and the U.S. Army Reserve Center for an active shooter scenario at Highlands High School. Police, fire and EMT worked together to practice assessing, treating and extracting casualties from such an incident.

Investigations

The Criminal Investigations Division reported that, while the number of cases was down, the intensity and complexity of individual cases was up. Despite the difficulty these incidents presented, the department successfully closed 62 percent.

A detailed case study of the I-275 rollover included in the report illustrates the many issues officers’ face in complex investigations as well as the deadly consequences of driving under the influence of drugs and the toll it is taking on families in our community.

Community outreach

The Fort Thomas Police Department participated in the Citizens Police Academy in 2016. Detectives Adam Noe and Michael Rowland assisted in a walk-through of a crime scene and discussed cases with academy members. The detectives are members of the Campbell County Crime Scene Unit and worked with the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office to provide the four-hour training.

Detective Noe ran in the Children’s Advocacy Center 5K run fundraiser. The center supports the department during investigations that require interviewing children who are victims of crime and abuse.

Officers from around the state participated in the Special Olympics Kentucky State Games 2016 by presenting medals to the winners. Officer Sean Donelan represented the Fort Thomas Police at the event.

Regional partnerships

Statistics included in the report from the Campbell County Drug Task Force, of which Fort Thomas is a part, shared data on the quantity and street value of drugs taken off the street through the combined efforts of the task force. The task force handled 60 cases and took 51 traffickers into custody this year.

The Fort Thomas Police Department is also part of the Kenton County Regional Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team. In 2016, the team added new cities to the collaborative effort. Three Fort Thomas officers are members. Sergeant Chris Carpenter, Officers Doug Bryant and Officer Dietz received almost 180 combined hours of monthly SWAT training. As leader of the Designated Marksman (Sniper) Team, Sergeant Carpenter received more than 48 hours of additional training.

Officer Bryant and an officer from the Covington Police Department each receive 48 additional hours of training in support of a program they created called the Explosive Breaching Program, The program enhances the SWAT Team’s ability to make rapid entries. Training includes physical fitness, room clearing techniques, vehicle assaults and other specialized topics.

The SWAT Team was called in for one incident in 2016. The team assisted the Independence Police Department with a high-risk search warrant at the apartment of a suspect in an armed back robbery. The team was successfully in gaining entry to the residence.